TCP/IP is well known as a communication protocol on an Ethernet (registered trademark). In the TCP/IP, an IP address is used as information for identifying a terminal apparatus on the Ethernet (registered trademark). The IP address is uniquely allocated to each terminal apparatus.
As a method of determining IP addresses of terminal apparatuses on a network, there is a method of granting IP addresses to the terminal apparatuses not to overlap one another, recording the IP addresses in recording devices in the terminal apparatuses, and reading out the recorded IP addresses when the terminal apparatuses are started.
As a method of determining an IP address of an own terminal apparatus, there is a method of using a reverse address resolution protocol (RARP). The RARP is a protocol for inquiring about an IP address corresponding to a MAC address (a physical address of the Ethernet (registered trademark)) of the own terminal apparatus. In the RARP, when the MAC address of the own terminal apparatus is broadcasted, an IP address is returned by an RARP server on a network.
As an IP address delivery method different from the RARP, BOOTP (BOOTstrap Protocol), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), or the like is sometimes used (Non Patent Literature 1).